The Half Fury
by xXWhiteFuryXx
Summary: 'He screamed as he saw long, black talons in place instead of fingernails, and black scales seeping up from under his skin. He backed up, slamming into the counter suddenly. A sharp pain exploded at his shoulder blades, as bones cracked and shifted into new places. Skin separated, and large leathery black wings spread open.' *Rated T just to be safe*
1. A New Path

|Prologue|

It was a normal night for Berk, with its vast skies filled with twinkling stars, the cold ocean still restless with its thrashing waves. And in the village, up in the chief's house, it was a special night.

The well-known, fearless leader Stoick the Vast was standing at his wives bedside, looking down at the little bundle of joy that was clinging onto his mother's long, braided hair with small fisted hands. The baby was sound asleep, but he seemed to be smiling softly. Valka, the mother, grinned back down at the child, gripping Stoick's large hand.

But this moment of serene peace was interrupted as the elder, Gothi walked in with a saddened face. She looked at the two happy parents with depressed eyes, as she gripped her staff and stepped forward.

"Stoick…your son is sick and weak. He was born to early, it seems. He won't make it" The elder announced, scared about how the two would react. Valka's grip just tightened on the child, her hand slipping from Stoicks and pulling the small child closer. Stoick looked away from his only child, looking at Gothi in disbelief.

"No…can't he get better?" Stoick persisted, glancing at his child. Gothi heaved a sigh and shook her head.

"He's not strong enough" She simply stated, now not able to look at the parents pain stricken faces. Now staring at the floor, she turned towards the door. A strong and firm hand locked on her frail shoulder though, stopping her in her tracks. Turning, she saw Stoick sternly looking down at her, eyes the ever slightest bit glassy with strong emotion.

"Well then what do we do with him if he's just going to die?" He said almost darkly, gesturing at Valka whose cheeks were already tear streaked. She also looked over at the elder, desperate for maybe some type of reassurance. She hugged the runt of hers tightly, scared to let go of the child.

Gothi gulped, but kept her stature. "Treasure your last moments Stoick. I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do. He is at the gods mercy now."

Stoick glared, but turned away from her as a tear slid down his cheek, leaking into his grand red beard, wetting the strands of bright scarlet. "Go." Was all he said before he slammed the door in Gothi's face.

-O-o-O-

It was heartbreaking. Stoick having to walk through the whole village with a small basket at sunrise. A small basket with the small body of his once child in it. His head hung in sadness, he simply walked down to shore, down the twisting boardwalks. He ignored all the questions, and all the emphasized looks he received.

Gripping the basket tightly, he leaned down, setting the small little basket in the upturned, white sand. Gothi was right. His son was now at the gods mercy.

Although the poor child had died mere hours after Gothi had warned them of his fate. Right in his mothers arms, and they only ever got to see his eyes once. They were just like his moms, a friendly looking forest green with splotches of light brown around the pupil. Stoick knew he would never forget those sweet, innocent eyes that peered up at him before they closed again, only to stay closed.

They never got to see him grow up. Hear him talk. That was the only moment in Stoicks life when he had actually cried. And tears still threatened to spill from his eyes as he pushed the small basket to sea, hoping his child would be spared by Odin's wrath. Perhaps one day they will all meet again…wherever you go when you pass.

And so the little basket flowed and bumped over waves, towards the sunset, as Stoick watched. Valka wasn't able to bear it, so she stayed home. Shaking his head, Stoick turned and made his way back home, glancing over his shoulder all too often at the ocean.

-o-O-o-

The basket bobbed and rolled, being caught in a strong current that lead into a large river heading back to Berk. Apparently fate had a different choice for this little runt of a boy, whose fingers and lips were slowly turning blue from the cold.

The basket washed up on a muddy shore, the top ripped apart by sharp rocks. Now any animal could easily get into it…

…any dragon to…

Because at that moment, an old sick and dying Night Fury was lumbering towards the river for a morning drink. His bright blue eyes duller, his once pitch black scales now greying around the edges steadily. He was now too old and creaky to fly, so he decided to stay on this beautiful island for his last days.

Although he was old, he was also wise, being alive for countless centuries. He knew he was going to die, and he was fine with that. He was getting tired of his life by now. But as he leaned down to get a drink of icy cold water, his nose caught a scent on the wind. Curious, the old dragon walked up the bank, avoiding the mud.

The scent was human, but it didn't hold the arrogance and fearlessness always followed by the stench. The only thing the old Night Fury smelled on the wind was innocence and sadness. Now intrigued, he crawled slowly over a large rock, looking down.

Before him was a torn and ripped basket, just a regular fishing basket. But as he tipped it over, a small bundle of blankets rolled gently out. His wise eyes softened, seeing the small human hatchling. But it was dead.

Crooning, he nudged it, just to make sure. But, no. No movements. The elder dragon felt pity for the child, sensing a once great outcome for the small being. He did have a future, but Hel had grasped him before he could live it. Not fair, he thought. This child would of done great things.

The Night Fury settled beside the small child, looking down at it. Hacking a cough, he knew he may pass away as well soon. Suddenly, an idea sparked in his mind. But he had to think about this one, for it could easily screw up.

What was his idea?

Dulled blue eyes looked down once again at the child, and the grey dragon wrapped his body around the child. His body was no longer to warm though, his fire dying out. Closing his eyes, and deciding, he touched his nose to the child's limp chest, and with his last dying breaths…

…He muttered one last word into the air, over the roaring of the rushing river.

"Live"

-O-o-O-

Cries rang through the forest, loud and strong sounding. No longer the weak whimpering of a runt, it now sounded like a strong offspring. Very few heard the cries, beside the annoyed animals that kept walking. The wolves were too scared to prey on the crying baby, because of the large silvery grey body that encircled the child.

They didn't know though, that that body was just a carcass.

**Oh the angst. **

**But how is it? Should I continue? Don't worry, I'll still work on my other fanfic, but I just wanted to post this, as I mentioned in Forbidden Friendship. **

**And by the way…if any of you were wondering, that baby was Hiccup, who will grow up. Time skip next chapter ;) you'll get to see all the awesomeness he is (that made no sense…)**

**I will be updating randomly, expect an update this week or next week though. Thanks for taking your time to read this :D**


	2. You're A Monster

**I lied, you don't get an update next week, you get an update now!**

Do you remember the last words that Night Fury had said before he had passed? Well, he wasn't just talking to the wind.

He was talking to the baby he had curled around.

That Night Fury was wise. And so he knew he must do _something _for the greater good before he left this world. And he _knew _that the kid he found on that river shore shouldn't of died so early. So, since he was going to die anyways…

The dragon had simply given the boy his life, making the once still baby miraculously alive. It was spared from the hungry wild life as well because of the greatly feared Night Fury that grasped him protectively, in its dead state.

And from all the rumors and such, the animals seemed to not like going around those powerful beasts, Night Furies. Even if they were already dead, grey, and out of the legendary and destructive fire it carried.

The poor babies cries were answered by a humble, nice couple of Vikings that had decided to live in the forest and occasionally trade with the Berkians that shared the island. The husband was cutting wood at the time, bright and early in the morning.

He had thought the baby had been stolen. And with him and his kind heart, the man decided to take him home, prying the fitful child from the stone cold clutches of the dragon carcass. He knew it was dead, but he wasn't sure what species it was.

And as he turned to leave, he didn't see the peering light blue eyes and the dragons slight grin, as it could finally rest in peace knowing that it had done something good. So it shut its eyes one last time.

The man's wife, Lillian, wanting a child for a long time, was glad for the 'little blessing' Odin had delivered to them. So they raised the child as their own, not knowing the twisted little being the baby actually was.

There's always a catch though, in dragons magic. Especially when a dragon would give their life away…always a catch.

When the boy turned eleven, that small makeshift family found out that catch the hard way. Really, they found out the worst way possible.

It all started when a Zippleback came to close to the house. The man, or Harold, had grabbed an axe and shut his wife and adopted child in the house, saying he would deal with this. And as Harold sliced one of the Zipplebacks heads clean off, something in the kids heart jumped. He suddenly had the urge to go outside and help the now dying dragon, somehow.

The kid tensed, eyes saucers as his father stuck the red axe into the Zipplebacks chest, and as it roared out in pain, the child gasped as if he was the one getting stuck in the heart with an axe. Lillian suddenly screamed, backing away from her 'child'. Hiccup, that is what she had named him, looked at her suddenly, frightened by her yelp.

He looked down at himself, where her eyes were wide and focused on. Hiccup screamed himself as he saw long, black talons in place instead of fingernails, and black scales seeping up from under his skin. He backed up, slamming into the counter suddenly. A sharp pain exploded at his shoulder blades, as bones cracked and shifted into new places.

Skin separated, and large leathery black wings spread open, knocking display axes off the walls and throwing pans off their hooks. Hiccup screamed louder, yelling for help, for reassurance, anything. His father burst through the door, his hands slick with dark dragon blood, along with his axe which had small green scales sticking to it.

His appearance only made it worse.

Hiccups heart suddenly tightened in empathy for the dead dragon outside. The frightened roars on replay continuously in his scattered head. _Why did it have to die! _His mind suddenly yelled. _What did it do? That mans a monster!_

With his taloned, now scaly black hands, Hiccup fell to his knees, covering his ears. His heart in pain, his back aching with the new limbs, and his mind confused and dazed at the sudden changes.

"Devil!" Harold suddenly yelled, gripping the axe tighter. "What have you done to my son?!"

Hiccup couldn't handle it. Harold kept yelling and yelling, as Hiccups skin kept turning more and more scalier, more confused until…

"SHUT UP" The eleven year olds voice came out in a loud roar of words, shaking the windows and shingles. His cheeks streaked with tears and black scales, Hiccup opened his eyes and looked down at himself, terrified. Harold stopped yelling, and the found son and father locked eyes. "Just shut up…" Hiccup said, his voice hoarse and barely audible.

Stumbling to his feet, the monstrous looking boy ran into the wall. "Help dad!" He cried out, only to be met by silence and a deadly glare from his 'father'.

"You're a monster. A demon. Get out of my household! Your not my son!" Harold said slowly, deadly. His knuckles white and tightly wrapped around the axe.

Those words hit Hiccup like a sharpened sword. He had just been disowned. Because of…because of whatever was happening!

Speechless, Hiccup made for the door, carefully stepping over his fainted mother. Slowly, bit by bit, the scales started sinking back into his freckled skin, and the black wings folded into his back. Hiccup felt lonely. Useless. Empty. Afraid. All because of a few words. Tears flowed gently down his cheeks, as he looked at his once father again.

Gulping, Hiccup started running, even when Harold started calling after him. _It must be a dream. Please be a dream. Please…_

His black obsidian talons were now fingernails, his skin peachy again, but his heart was different. It was shattered, troubled. Hollow. He didn't know what to do. What he was anymore. All his mom and dad had ever taught him, was now lost in flurry of confusion and terror as he dashed through the woods, wiping tears away with his dirty sleeves.

_What is wrong with me?!_ He questioned himself, as he slid down a steep slope, thinking back to the pain he experienced before. The strange emotions he had felt towards that poor, poor dragon. But wait – isn't he supposed to hate dragons? Isn't that what he had been taught to do? Everyone seemed to hate dragons.

But he wanted to protect that Zippleback. Why the sudden change?

Collapsing to his knees in front of a small puddle, the boy looked at his reflection with a blank expression. Was he cursed? Maybe. He also didn't know he had been resurrected as well, by a dragon.

One thing he knew though, was that he was a monster. His dad called him a demon. His mother had screamed at the sight of him.

And he knew what Vikings do to monsters, to dragons. They killed them.

Getting to his feet, and ignoring his muddy boots and pants, he started walking. Not sure where, but he felt it was his responsibility to maybe protect everyone from his self. The realization dawned on the boy.

He _was _a monster.

**Ok, so this marks the end of backstory chapters. Next one is going to be current time! Yay!**

**And yah, you guys are lucky. Two updates in one day! I'm just really excited about this, and couldn't help myself. Review? Constructive criticism is allowed. Flames will be ignored, so don't bother. **

**So…yah. Have a nice day!**


	3. Oh So Lonely

Three years passed. No one ever heard from the runaway boy again. Lillian and Harold soon died with his secret, their house catching on fire and burning everything of Hiccups past. No one even knew he was alive.

Three years since his first 'change' as he calls it. The now older boy knows more about himself, and is no longer scared. In fact, he actually embraces it. Hiccup is a smart boy, a logical thinker. He knows whatever happened to him couldn't be taken away, it was a part of him.

Two years of pure solitude…no one but himself to talk to. He was alone, he built up walls. He remained on the island, because it was the only place he knew. Only he stowed himself away into the large mountain caves, where it was far up high and away from any human contact. So every other night, he would sit up there in his mountain. Letting the nipping wind bite at his cheeks and nose, and watch the distant twinkling orange lights of the village just beyond the forest.

He would carefully spread his wings, stretching out the strong muscles, letting the scales surface from under his skin.

One year of discovery, this current year. For both Hiccup and the villagers. The village of Berk finally noticed the absence of their usual trading partners, and went to go find them…only to find a burnt and already rotting remains of a large cabin, and two scorched skeletons. Many thought they were prey to an arson crime, but others stated the poor couple must've just left the furnace on too long.

They also noticed most of their dragon traps are suddenly disabled. That was… questionable. Then they noticed all the dragons the knocked out of the sky, and that landed in the forest, were never seen again. All they found was tangled, torn bolas. Many dismissed it as weak bolas though, or stronger dragons.

What did Hiccup discover this year? He finally discovered friendship.

Friendship? But with who? Or what?

He discovered friendship actually, a few hours ago.

Hiccup had been wandering the forests, aimlessly, as he usually did. Looking back and forth, he spread his wings open. Folding them in front of himself, he ran a hand along the webbing of the wing, fingers bumping over the occasional scale. Feeling a bit more daring, he opened his wings wide, stretching the aching muscles that had been stilled for so long. Two years and a half, to be exact.

Sadly the wind was coming in gusts that night. And you can guess what happened next…

A huge blow of wing caught in his wings, pulling up a startled boy into the sky. Now swirling and out of control, and horribly high up in the sky, Hiccup panicked, still unsure of how exactly he used wings to fly. At first, he tried flapping. That only got him higher. Then he tried to open his wings out flat. The wind just blew him backwards, making him backflip repeatedly. And at that moment, the wind decided to stop blowing for a moment-

-and he fell. In his panic, he accidently folded his wings close to his body, and he started to plummet to the ground like a dropped pebble.

_What a stupid way to die…_He had thought, as the ground got closer and closer.

Then, without warning, two strong clawed paws clamped around his chest, yanking the boy back into higher altitudes. Surprised, he looked up to see the dim outline of a dark black creature, and two acidic but soft glowing green eyes.

Off guard, Hiccup gulped and gripped the front legs holding him up more tightly. Slowly, they landed near Hiccups cave. He stumbled, then turned to look at his savior.

"_That was a nice dive you did there." _

Taken aback, Hiccups eyes widened and he stared at the medium sized dragon in front of him. "How did you…?" He gasped.

"_Oh, what? He understood me?!" _The dragons almond shaped pupils now turned into a circle, giving the intimidating creature almost a cute look.

"Yah…yes I did understand you!" Hiccup was flabbergasted. Oh nine worlds this was awkward. Sure, he knew he was maybe half dragon and stuff…but now he could talk to them! What next? He would start smelling like them?

Hiccup backed up as the dragon narrowed its eyes and stepped forward, smelling the air. Smelling _him. _

"_What are you?" _The dragon said, now confused as he looked at him closer. Hiccup sighed, shrugging.

"That's what I've been asking myself for a while…." Hiccup muttered the answer, folding his wings into his back and wrapping his black cloak around him tighter. His actions only interested the dragon even more, as it watched his wings sink under his flesh, now seemingly nonexistent.

The dragon (you must be able to tell which particular dragon it is by now…just saying…) padded closer, sniffing the air carefully. Hiccup simply stood still, knowing it was being curious, not hostile. At least for now. But it did save him right? Unless it didn't like its meals squashed…

_Ok Hiccup, time to shut up now._

As the dragon neared, Hiccup could now see it better. It was a quite short, but with a very sleek appearance. It was covered in night black scales, they were so close together it all seemed like one piece, besides a few bigger scales on its shoulders and head. Wide intense green eyes looked right into his own, friendly looking fern green.

It snuffed, then sat down in front of him. _"You're not a human. You're not a dragon. You're something in between. And by far, little one, you're the strangest thing I have ever encountered." _The dragon listed.

Hiccup frowned. "Why are you even talking to me? Listen, I know that you saved me and everything, and I appreciate that. But I would like it more if you left. I'm kind of dangerous…." He was cut off by a weird sound from the dragon…was that laughing? He was laughing?!

"_Don't worry, nothing can hurt the great Night Fury little one" _He chuckled.

The boy felt like rolling his eyes at the dragon's smugness. His mind however, seemed to prick up at the mention of the word Night Fury. He wasn't sure why though. A question also found its way out of his mouth.

"Wait…how did you know I was out there…?" He asked with uncertainty.

The Night Fury paused.

"_I was…um…just watching you."_

"Watching me? Why?" Now it was Hiccups turn to be curious. 'Night Fury' shuffled his paws, or feet, whatever you call them, looking quite awkward. It then shrugged, giving him an innocent look with those big, round eyes.

"_You looked lonely I guess. I wanted to say 'hi' maybe. But not like this…you know." _The Night Fury grumbled, still giving Hiccup its 'I can't do anything wrong' gaze.

Ok. This can go two ways. Either Hiccup can accuse the dragon of being a stalker, or maybe just roll with it for a bit more. "I looked _lonely?_" This part may be true. "So you _stalked _me for a day? Do you realize how creepy that is?"

The Night Fury shrugged. _"Hey, I did just save your life, you know." _ That was true to. The boy eyed the black dragon carefully.

This situation has to be as awkward as it can get…

**Hello! Yes I am back! **

**YAY. Its Toothless! The dragon who decides to stalk 'lonely' people. For some reason, in a messed up way, I think his actions were kind of cute. Oh yah, sorry if there was too much dialogue. I just thought Hiccup and Toothless needed to have a discussion. But I still hope you liked it guys! I hope it didn't disappoint.**

**Review please! :D :D :D**


	4. Newfound Friend

***Deep sigh* I don't own How To Train Your Dragon...all characters belong to DreamWorks and Cressida Cowell. I only own the plot of this particular fan fiction and some of the ideas...**

Hiccup and the Night Fury had a moment of silence. An awkward silence as the simply looked at each other. The Night Fury blinked, then sat back on his haunches.

"_I'm sorry…"_ It muttered. Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"Yah, ok, see you then" Hiccup said, turning. The dragon immediately jumped to his feet.

"_You're going?" _He whined. Hiccup turned back to him.

"Yup. Still, thank you for saving me" the boy gushed, before starting to climb up the mountain some more, up to the ledge outside his cave. He suddenly slipped on a wet rock, and fell backwards. But instead of cold hard ground, a warm scaly head came forward and cushioned his fall.

"_How have you survived this long?" _The dragon remarked, backing up.

"I don't know. Ok, thanks for catching me and saving my life, but I'm tired and I want to get home." Hiccup grumbled, deciding on another route up. He looked back, to see the dragon still looking at him. "What?" he asked, then started climbing.

"_Why don't you just fly?"_

"Well we all know how that turned out." Hiccup shot back dryly, as he grasped the rock above him, and pulled himself up, flexing nonexistent muscles.

"_You look pretty pathetic right now"_

"Why _thank _you for that _wonderful _comment" Hiccup drawled sarcastically, as he tried to place his foot somewhere. He finally found a nook, and was able to go higher.

"_Don't step there…" _The dragon warned.

"I'll step where ever I need to step, thank you very-ah!" Hiccup gasped as the rock broke away. A sudden fear spiked out in him, and his nails immediately grew into sharp talons and dug into the rock easily. Catching his breath, Hiccup hung there for a second.

"_You have claws to?" _ Night Fury stated, seeing the razor sharp black claws that had penetrated through the rock like butter.

"Yes, I do. Now can you please be quiet!" The boy cried out, as he forced his claws to disappear. He finally managed to get to his ledge, and looked down again at the Night Fury that was still sitting contently below.

"Um…are you going to go?" Hiccup asked awkwardly. The dragon slumped. "Whats wrong?"

"_Are you a Night Fury?" _The black beast asked, tilting his head. Hiccup shrugged.

"I don't know…what is a 'Night Fury' anyways?" He replied, sitting down. He looked up to the sky, watching as the stars slowly traced their path across the inky black expanse.

"_A Night Fury is only the most feared creature ever…human and dragons fear me." _The Night Fury boasted proudly, puffing out his chest and raising his head. "_But…there are only a few of us left. I've never seen another of my kind." _The dragon added, lowering his head.

"Oh...I'm sorry for that. But as you can see, I'm not really a dragon." The boy empathized. He took his hands out from underneath his cloak, seeing the black scales that dotted his arms slink into his skin from his last panic attack. No, he wasn't a dragon. Nor human. Something in between. And he hadn't seen anyone else of his kind either.

"_Ah, but you have the same wings as me. The same claws. The same scales." _He listed, seeing the dark black scales on the boys thin arms. Hiccup nodded. The Night fury hopped up on the ledge with ease. _"You may not be a dragon fully, but you are at least half Night fury." _

**-o—**

Hiccup sat in his cave, looking warily at the stubborn Night Fury who was curled up by the mouth of the cave. He didn't seem to want to leave, not to leave the boy alone. The boys attention was turned to the dwindling fire he had made. Shivering as he did every night, Hiccup hugged his knees to his chest and tucked his hands under his legs.

He closed his eyes, ignoring the shivering and goose bumps. He stole one more glance at the Night Fury, before finally falling asleep.

-o—

He woke up to…warmth? Hiccup's eyes shot open, but all he saw was black for a moment. Panicking, he scrambled to his feet and pushed the black away, much to his surprise. He was blinded for a moment by the light of early morning. He also jolted back as he saw a peacefully sleeping black beast, a small gap between its chest and tail where Hiccup had been.

He gulped, before rushing out of the cave. Sure he liked to help dragons, and somewhat trusted them, but he had never really been that close to them. That Night Fury must've trusted him though, because Hiccup could've easily killed him….

At the ledge of the cave, Hiccup carefully lowered himself off it before hopping down. So, then he started down the mountain, heading down towards the vast forests Berk was known for.

But a silent whoosh from above warned Hiccup of a visitor. He looked up, to see the Night Fury sitting in a tree looking down at him. Sighing, Hiccup decided to keep walking.

"_What cha' doing?" _The dragon purred, jumping down from the tree. The boy rolled his eyes.

"Walking." He simply said, and did so through the thick undergrowth and out jutting roots.

"_Oh, ok." _The dragon crooned, and trotted up beside him, looking at the lonely boy. The said boy beside him looked ahead and pushed branches out of the way, climbing over logs. The Night Fury still followed, for whatever reason.

Hiccup groaned at the dragons persistency. "Why are you following me?" he broke the silence. The dragon paused, looking at him again with big acidic green eyes.

"_I told you before didn't I? You look lonely" _The dragon seemed to smirk, then trotted back up beside Hiccup.

"So in other words, you're not going to leave me alone?" Hiccup inferred. The Night Fury stopped again, as if thinking, then nodded. "Well I guess I need to know your name" Hiccup added.

"_I have no name…" _The dragon answered. Hiccup jumped as the dragon suddenly stopped by a small narrow river, and opened his jaws to catch a slimy fish from the rushing water. As Hiccup looked closer…he saw no teeth. This sparked an idea.

"How about Toothless?" Hiccup suggested, now smiling at his clever name.

"_Why-oh" _Toothless remembered his serrated teeth were still sheathed. So, he unsheathed them and they went right through the fish, stopping its wriggling.

"Oh…sorry, I thought you had no teeth for a second there" Hiccup retorted, now searching for another name in his head.

"_No, no Toothless is ok." _Toothless rushed, after swallowing the fish. The boy nodded, then a grin found itself back on his face.

"Alright then Toothless," Hiccup tested the name. He liked it to. "We better get going" He announced, and then started walking again.

"_Where?" _Toothless questioned, bounding up beside his new friend.

"Well, just to find some dragon traps. I disable them, you see. Also I free dragons from them. And those weird rope-y things that those fur-heads throw at the dragons" Hiccup ranted. Toothless nodded, then another question popped in his smart head.

"_Uh, what's a fur-head?" _

"Oh, they're kind of like me. The Boulder Tails call them that. See, they're bigger and meaner and _way _hairier. They also kill dragons to…which I don't like. In fact, I don't like them at all." Hiccups tone held a bit of the hate he held up inside for the 'fur-heads'.

Toothless rolled his eyes. Boulder Tails and their weird ways. _"Fur-heads are actually called Vikings, just saying." _The dragon informed.

"Vikings. That's even worse" Hiccup said, before stopping. "Ah ha! Here's one!" the boy leaned down, grabbing a thin piece of metal from a pocket in his concealing cloak. Toothless watched in interest as the boys nimble fingers unlocked and picked and unscrewed, until the trap fell apart, now just some metal and springs. For a boy who grew alone and in the forest, he was very smart.

Tucking his little instrument in the pocket again, Hiccup got up and looked at the dragon behind him. "Nosy much?" he joked, then started walking again.

-o—

"I will be back Astrid, don't worry." Mr. Hofferson said, grabbing his sword off the wall. Astrid grumbled as he ruffled her hair, then hugged her mother.

"I wish Stoick would just give up on the nest" Astrid sighed, setting her ax on the table.

"Hey, you be nice to that man. He works very hard for the village, and only does things if it's for the best." Astrid's mother scolded, waving a pan in her direction. "He has had great losses, the village is the only reason he lives, that's what people say" her mom muttered the last part.

Astrid knew her mom was still getting over the death of Valka, the chief's wife and her best friend. Even it was two years ago, things took time.

"Bye girls!" Mr. Hofferson called, hugging both of the bickering girls before grabbing his bag. "I'll be back, try not to hurt each other before then!" the jolly man trilled, before laughing and shutting the door behind him.

"Bye dad…" Astrid murmured sadly, before grabbing her ax again and climbing upstairs. She looked out the window, brushing light blond bangs from her face, and watched as a fleet of ships sailed away out to sea, her beloved father among the many men. She prayed to Thor that nothing bad would happen. Odin to. Why not Freya as well?

It was still afternoon, so only when the ships disappeared over the horizon, the girl came downstairs and out the door. She sighed deeply as Snotlout immediately noticed her, and strided over along with the twins.

This was going to be a long day….

**Hello again! Sorry for that wait, took me a bit to choose which way this story was going to go. But now its all good, all figured out so get ready for the twistedness ahead! :D**

**Again, sorry for all the dialogue. Well, was it too much? I don't know. I apologize if there's any mistakes, I'm my own beta so…things like this may happen. How was Toothless? I thought he was cute, as always :3**

**Question: do you think the summary is ok?**

**And thank you to…**

**Faisyah, Guest, Sapphire Roz, A Fan, Aegis Dragon, Midnightsky0612, GeekGirl276, and DaEpicNinja *catches breath* for their awesome, inspiring, insert other gushy words, reviews! I really appreciate them! Oh yah, review please :) I wuv reviews :3 Lol. **

**Enough of my blabbering! Have a nice day/night/afternoon! :D**


	5. Astrids Ax

"_Your fingers are bleeding…" _Toothless crooned, looking at his little friend with worry. Hiccup had been picking traps all day, leaving the tips of his fingers raw and some scrapes. Nothing he wasn't used to though.

Hiccup shrugged, and wiped the blood off on his pants. It was only a few beads, but they smeared over the leather making it red. Frowning, Hiccup gave up trying to rub it off, then looked over at Toothless. "Well, I'm done for today." He looked up at the sky. "Its about the afternoon. I guess I should have some food." Toothless nodded, and offered to catch fish for him. Hiccup gladly accepted, and the dragon bounded and took off into the sky, through the trees.

Hiccup jumped when a strained roar came rushing to his ears. Immediately, he dashed through the bushes to see a full grown Monstrous Nightmare, or Flame-Skins, as he called them. Its leg was caught in a chain from a trap he missed.

The Flame Skin snarled defensively seeing Hiccup, its skin sparking. Hiccup put up his hands, showing he had no weapons. And slowly, crooning soothingly, Hiccup walked up to the trapped dragon. The boy didn't know why, but making the crooning noise seemed to calm stressed dragons, even if it was awkward for him to make.

The Flame Skin let Hiccup destroy the chain and trap, still tense but its yellow eyes echoed trust. After the chains fell, the Flame Skin nudged the boy gently, almost purring its appreciation. Hiccup was quite used to this. Dragons always showed their appreciation, sometimes like this, or other weird ways. And they always remember you for what you did to them….

Soon the dragon finally spread its scarlet wings, then flew away, to wherever dragons go when they're not on Berk. Hiccup smiled, then returned towards the place he last saw Toothless. Hiccup had to admit, he had never seen such an intelligent, and a little bit strange, of a dragon. Right then, the said dragon dived through the canopy and gently glided to a graceful stop. He had no fish though…or as Hiccup thought….

"Did you eat them all on the way here? Hungry?" Hiccup teased, before hesitantly letting his talons grow from his fingers, and headed to the small trickling river. Toothless padded over to him, knocking over Hiccup. The boy plopped on his butt, and he went to get up.

But stopped in worry as Toothless' eyes rolled back, and his mouth opened. A small gurgling sound from the back of his throat sounded. Then, a slimy fish slid from his throat, and landed in Hiccups lap with a disgusting squish. Hiccup felt revolted, and was going to barf when another slimy fish plopped onto his lap, dragon spit soaking through his pants and splattering his face.

"Ew. Toothless! Ugh…I'm gonna hurl…" Hiccup breathed, closing his mouth. "Why two, to make it worse?" Hiccup mumbled from behind his hand, which was covering his mouth.

"_Well…you're skinny and no offence, a little bit weak. Do you even eat? I can see your bones!" _The Night Fury listed, and nudged the fish towards Hiccup. Hiccup pushed his snout away, and pushed the fish off his lap. Flicking the spit from his clothes and hands, Hiccup made sure he wasn't going to throw up before talking.

"Yes, I do eat. Just not half digested fish coughed up by a Night Fury, sorry not my taste. I usually just catch the minnows that are in this river here-"

"_Minnows? Really? They barely have anything to offer! And with you being a half Night Fury and everything…you must have a bigger appetite." _Toothless argued, picking up the fish and shoving into Hiccup with them.

The boy grumbled and pushed the dragon, even if it made no difference. "Yah whatever! I'll eat what I want to eat. In fact, I'll eat anything besides that" Hiccup snapped, then quickly grabbed the gross fish and chucked them far off into the forest. Toothless bounded after them, growling, _"You will eat them!" _

"Try me!" Hiccup yelled before running the opposite direction, dodging trees and jumping over logs. He only increased his speed when he heard four other feet crashing through the forest after him. Hiccup agilely gripped a low hanging branch with his clawed hands, and swung up out of sight. He saw the Night Fury look back and forth, then bound through the bushes.

Catching his breath, Hiccup hopped down and walked casually through the brush. He was proud. He had just outrun a-

Suddenly two paws knocked Hiccup over onto his back, and slobbery fish were dropped onto his face.

-Night Fury. Yup, no one outruns a Night Fury…what was he thinking….

"_Eat." _Toothless said sternly, keeping a writhing Hiccup pinned to the ground.

"Ugh no! I'll eat, just not these!" Hiccup gagged as the scent of the fish invaded his nostrils, and some of the fish oil and Night Fury spit leaked into his mouth. "I'm _really _starting to not like you" Hiccup growled from under the dragon.

Toothless, startled by Hiccups coughs, jumped back. Hiccup got up and threw the fish off his poor face, wiping it off. Toothless looked down at him, then flicked his tail.

"_Fine. Eat your stupid minnows." _Toothless grouched, before eating the discarded fish. Hiccup sighed in relief, then walked back to the river.

-o

"I'm sorry Astrid! The sun was in my eyes. Do you want me to block out the sun? I can do that, just not-whoa!" Snotlout flirted, before narrowly dodging a sharp Nadder spike flung at him. Astrid tuned him out as she held up her shield, all the spikes digging themselves deep in her shield. She flung the useless piece of equipment away before flipping over another wave of the sharp things.

Expertly Astrid leaped onto a spike embedded in the wood, climbing them like a ladder to the top of the wooden walls.

Today, their mentor Gobber set up the place like a huge maze, only they had to make it out without being killed by a Deadly Nadder. Easy right?

Maybe what Astrid was doing, going on top of the maze, was cheating but it was to cool for anyone to complain. Astrid had so much skill for a girl her age, demonstrated as she flipped and landed easily on the thin walls like an experienced gymnast. She was determined to win the honor of killing the Monstrous Nightmare, even though she didn't have much competition besides Snotlout. But he was too busy flirting with her to focus so…yah.

Astrid twirled her axe, before flinging it at the Nadder, pinning it to the wall by its tail tip. The poor creature cried out, thrashing and growling loudly. Astrid simply hopped down, now at the exit of the maze.

"Great job, as always Astrid." Gobber said almost glumly. He and the chief, Stoick had been like this for a few days. Astrid's mom said something about Stoicks son's birthday would be in like three days, or would be if the kid hadn't died when he was born. Everyone noticed the two mens attitude change during this time period. "Snotlout! Stop marveling at the thing and get in there!" Gobber suddenly yelled, seeing Snotlout stare at a spike that almost went through his face.

"Oh, yah just giving that stupid Nadder my deadly stare down!" the buff boy yelled back, snapping out of it and letting out a frightful cry before charging through the maze. "Snotlout Snotlout oi oi oi!"

Astrid rolled her eyes. Just then Ruffnut exited the maze, smiling her usual michievious smile. "Yah! Take that Tuffnut! You got beat by a girl! Two girls!" Ruffnut boasted, as her twin brother rushed out beside her.

"No fair! You smashed my head into the wall!" Tuffnut replied shakily, straightening his helmet.

"Did not!"

"Did to!"

"Liar!"

"Yak face!"

"Chicken butt!"

"Troll wart!"

Astrid decided to stop listening, and watched as Snotlout exited the maze and flexed his muscles. "Now that's how you do it like a real Viking!" he rejoiced. Not far after, Fishlegs burst through panting. The enraged Deadly Nadder followed, shrieking and flinging poisonous spikes everywhere, even with the tip of its tail chopped off.

"Calm down ya' sissy!" Gobber grumbled, pushing the angry creature into its cage, where it thrashed in. He locked the gates securely, then looked at his students.

"Class is over. You all did well. Lunch is ready in the Great Hall." Gobber said blankly, before turning and leaving. Astrid looked after him with worry. She never really knew the chiefs child, no one did. But apparently he was very loved before he died, also grieved greatly.

Snotlout didn't care, neither did anyone else, as all the teens exited the arena and crossed the bridge. The girl scoffed at their selfishness, well besides poor Fishlegs, and ran to catch up to them, but grabbed her handy axe first.

-0-0-

Astrid sat beside Ruffnut, her fellow female, and Snotlout of course by her other side.

"Did you see the way I bruised that Nadders skull? He got off easy, I could of cracked it in half if I wanted to!" The boy boasted, crushing his meal as if to illustrate his actions. Astrid picked at her meal, looking around the table. There was an empty seat besides Tuffnut. Huh. Maybe if Stoicks son was alive…maybe he would sit there…

Astrid shook her head, shrugging off the thoughts. She really needed to stop listening to her mom. She rambled on and on about Stoick and Valka, knowing the couple for awhile. Astrid kind of wished her mom would stop. Even though it was interesting…it was very annoying and it was messing with her head.

**Astrid is off being awesome and Astrid-ey…meanwhile Hiccup is being forced to eat by a Night Fury…yup, that's Hiccup for you, folks. And then theres the twins…lol.**

**Hoped you liked the chapter! Personally, I did. **

**Review please! I wuv feedback! :3**

**Thanks for reading and have a nice day/night!**


	6. Black Scales

**I don't own How To Train Your Dragon, the characters, or Berk, or the Hooligans, Berserkers, Outcasts, Deadly Nadders and so on. I only own this plot, or this particular fanfiction. The rest belongs to Cressida Cowell and DreamWorks! :)**

The sun was finally setting, the blazing oranges and yellows and reds splattered across the evening sky. Hiccup admired it from his rock ledge, legs crossed. With his forest green eyes, he looked up at the other colors.

Toothless came down from his evening flight, coming and sitting beside Hiccup. The brunette looked over, but ignored the dragon and looked back at the sunset. He always loved them. Especially in winter when the white snow reflects the warm colors, making the white seem like flames.

They were comforting in some weird way. Same as the dragons.

Getting up finally, Hiccup yawned and turned towards his cave. The walls of his cave were covered in different charcoal drawings of dragons, each species drawn out and studied. Hiccup was always fascinated by dragons, how they worked, and how they managed to fly.

Even the hugest dragons could lift to the air. It was amazing. Hiccup could fly to…but he didn't know how, and he was to scared to. Even though his wings ached very badly each day, never being able to stretch. Frowning, Hiccup rolled his shoulders, trying to brush off the dull ache.

Toothless followed, looking curiously back and forth. He stopped and sniffed at a new drawing on the wall. _"Is that me?" _He asked, tilting his head.

"Yup. Like it? I tried my best, but you're so hard to draw." Hiccup shrugged, admiring his sketches as well.

"_Meh. It could be better." _

Hiccup rolled his eyes and sat down next to his fire pit, flicking some flint and steel together. He jumped back as a sudden blast of blue flame erupted the air in front of him, and a big fire was in its place. Hiccup glared at the black dragon's smug face.

"_Uh, you're welcome?" _Toothless chirped.

"Yah whatever. I could of done it anyways." Hiccup bluffed.

"_Whoa! You breathe fire to?" _Toothless exclaimed excitedly, walking towards the strange boy.

"No-well I have never tried before…" Hiccup muttered, then pushed away the over curious dragon. The dragon froze then, his ear flaps twitching and his pupils slitted. Hiccup tapped his snout. "Hello? You there you crazy lizard?" Toothless said nothing. Then, the black beast suddenly ran out the cave, taking off into the sky.

"Hey! Where are you going?!" Hiccup yelled, running towards the edge of the ledge. But Toothless easily disappeared into the now black sky. "Toothless!" He yelled again, but no answer. But he did feel a dull buzzing sound in the back of his head, as he did every time there was…

Hiccup winced as a loud crash was heard in the distance. He squinted his eyes, leaning dangerously forward. In the village in the distance, there was red, orange, and yellow flames, much like the sunset colors, flickering in the distance. Oh…a dragon attack. Probably again demanded by that stupid dragon queen, or whatever the Boulder Tails (Gronckles) were blabbering about the other day.

The Queen had a strange effect over the dragons. Hiccup had no idea what, but she was able to make thousands of dragons do her every commands. Hiccup even felt her mind powers trying to control him to, but he wasn't dragon enough to hear her commands.

Hiccup scowled, before turning to walk back to his cave. But something stopped him. A loud screech sounded through Berk, it was the familiar sound of a dragon being slaughtered. A blossom of anger in Hiccup bloomed, as he started down the mountain. The shrieks of pain and mercy were normal for Hiccup to hear, and he couldn't stand them. And the Vikings simply ignored them!

Unsheathing his claws, he stabbed them into a tree, breathing hard. It wasn't their fault. It was the Queens. Thousands of dragons died every year for her greedy purposes! And the Vikings where so stupid, they only know how to kill!

With a deep breathe, Hiccup calmed himself, pulling his claws from the poor tree. He only then noticed the black scales covering his arms and face, and his wings spread proudly behind him. Ugh, this always happened. Too much emotion, and he changes. It's like his dragon side gets excited.

Hiccup decided to leave his wings open. The night breeze felt nice against the achy wings.

-o—

"Ha! Got one!" Snotlout shouted, as he walked towards the bola tied Gronckle. It roared and snapped its huge jaws, growling and whimpering. But Snotlout simply brought his sword down into its chest, silencing its struggles.

Astrid finished putting out a fire, turning towards Snotlout. "Hey! You're supposed to be helping put out fires!" She breathed, before hauling a bucket towards the well.

"Yah whatever. You do that, and I'll kill stuff" he chuckled, before an ax was chucked and landed right beside his head. "Oh um ok let me help!" He yelped, grabbing a bucket.

Astrid sighed, before tossing her full bucket at Fishlegs, who barely caught it and splashed the cold water on a house fire.

It was only a minor attack thankfully, and the shield maidens and warriors who stayed behind from the nest searches easily drove off the dragons.

The last Nadder flew away, clutching a poor sheep in its talons.

Someone threw a bola at it though, and it dropped the sheep and crashed into the forest. "Ay Astrid, mind fetchin' that one for us?" Gobber asked, as he sharpened a sword.

"Sure, ok" Astrid said, and retrieved her ax from where she threw it at Snotlout and ran through the village, and into the dark forest that surrounded Berks north side.

-o—

A loud crash was heard from the right of Hiccup, and he perked up. Carefully he walked through the bushes, parting them to see a struggling Spine Scale (or a Deadly Nadder). Hiccup lowered his wings and sheathed his claws, and crept towards it.

"Hello there" Hiccup cooed out, nearing the dragon. The Spine Scale calmed a bit, recognizing his scent. Most of the dragons knew Hiccup as the 'Helper' or something like that.

"I'm just gonna undo this rope thing, and then you can go home. Ok?" Hiccup said soothingly, then rushed forward when the dragon relaxed. Quickly he snapped the ropes with his claws, letting them fall to the ground. The Spine Scale got up, but stopped and whimpered. Hiccup looked down to see its foot twisted at an odd angle.

"Oh no…uh…well…" Hiccup kneeled down to examine the foot. Ok, not that bad. In one swift movement, Hiccup snapped the bones back into place with a sickening crunch. The Spine Scale roared in pain. "Sorry sorry sorry! I had to do that girl! Sorry!"

The Spine Scale then purred and limped over to Hiccup to nuzzle him. "I know girl, it hurts." Hiccup patted the dragon's frill of spikes. "Hmm…how about a name for you?" Hiccup asked, knowing the Spine Shot would have to hang around until her ankle was better.

"Stormfly? How about that?" Stormfly squawked in agreement, flicking her tail. Hiccup smiled and started leading the dragon to his cave. The pretty blue dragon trotted with the strange boy, with a small limp. She felt very attached to this boy who freed her, and helped her. He smelt of Night Fury to, so he must be good protection.

-o—

"Aw c'mon!" Astrid growled, looking down at the snapped and ruined bola. She kicked it several times, grumbling.

"One job! One job Astrid, the dragon was tied down and everything! Ugh!" She hadn't gotten there fast enough. It was strange, every dragon that fell into the forest was never seen again. The flustered girl tromped around before throwing her ax at a tree, blowing out a breath. But as she retrieved it, something stopped her.

A small scale was on the ground. It was black and round, with the smallest sliver glint to it in the stars light. Astrid picked it up, feeling the smoothness of it carefully. "Huh. Weird…" She murmured, anger forgotten for a moment. She looked down at the ground. Trampled bushes.

She walked through the forest a bit, before stopping in front of a thick trunked oak.

Four deep, deep scratch marks were visible, bark ripped and teared. On another tree, four more marks where there, jagged and angry looking in the moonlight. Astrid gulped. Whatever did this, was powerful. She gasped when she saw another black scale. Clutching the black scales she walked a bit more, only seeing one more tortured tree before everything stopped. No more trails, scratches or anything.

Backing up, Astrid decided it would be best to leave…like right now…so she did, slightly scared.

**Hello again. So, how was this chapter? Hopefully it was good. I thought it was. But of course I would think that, right? :3**

**Review please! I love to read your theories, opinions, and feedback! And thanks for all the followers and favorites! You guys are awesome :D**

**Have a nice day/night :)**


	7. There Goes Lunch

**Hello :3**

"Sorry Gobber, it escaped." Astrid said glumly as she walked into the blacksmiths, the two scales she found hidden in her belt.

"Well at least we got the sheep back, eh?" Gobber replied, as he sharpened a sword. Astrid shrugged. She fingered the scales under her belt. Should she tell him? It would be best…there was something in that forest….

"Gobber…um…"

"Ya' lassie?" Gobber asked, not looking up from his work. Astrid made a split second decision. She decided maybe she should gather more information…plus it would be awkward to tell Gobber, and hard to tell him about the beautiful, sleek looking scales she found in the forest.

"Erm…can you sharpen my ax?" Astrid asked, holding it out.

"Sure…but didn't I just sharpen it yesterday?"

"Uh, yah but, you know, can't have it to dull or anything." Astrid finished smoothly. Thank god for her cleverness.

"Alright, hand t' over" Gobber said without another question. Astrid gave him her ax, then bid goodbye and walked home. She was in desperate need of sleep.

"Hey honey!" Astrid's mom said as she came in, setting down a bloodied sword, and whipped off her hands.

"Hi mom." Astrid groaned, stumbling up the staircase to her room. Her mom chuckled, and helped Astrid up the stairs. "Thanks…" Astrid said before collapsing on her bed and immediately drifting off to sleep. Astrid's mom patted her back, then walked downstairs to clean her sword.

-o—

Hiccup woke up to growling. Looking up drowsily, he saw a black blur come in the cave. Shaking his head, he saw both Stormfly and Toothless with arched backs and bared teeth.

"Guys, calm down" Hiccup murmured, getting up. Toothless glared at the dragon boy.

"_Who is this?!" _He growled.

"Her names Stormfly, and she'll be around for awhile, calm down you overgrown lizard" Hiccup snapped back. Stormfly seemed to scoff before calming down again. Hiccup glared back at Toothless. "And where did you go last night?"

"_The Queen called me. I can usually resist it, but for some reason I couldn't. Sorry." _Toothless relaxed from his defensive posture, and gazed innocently at his friend.

"_Night Fury, I heard she is getting stronger. You must be more aware." _Stormfly squawked at Toothless. The Night Fury nodded, before sitting on his haunches.

"_So, Hiccup. What are you going to do today?" _Toothless asked, peering at him. Hiccup came out with the minnows again, setting them down for Stormfly.

"Well, you and I can go hunt for some more food, check the traps, and so on. Stormfly will be safe here, I'll get her some food other than minnows." Hiccup listed, patting the injured dragon's neck. Stormfly chirped in agreement, as she quickly finished the little fish. Hiccup frowned. There goes his winter supply.

"_Ok! And I was thinking maybe I could teach you how to use those wings!" _Toothless exclaimed, already going towards the mouth of the cave.

"Yah, ok. Because we all know how well that will turn out." Hiccup said blankly, before waving goodbye at Stormfly and following his Night Fury friend.

-o—

Astrid grabbed her ax from Gobber, thanking him and starting back into the forest. She swiftly ran through it, back to the place where that Deadly Nadder should have been. Astrid walked back over to the trees, the sunlight making them better to make out. Whatever did the damage must've been mad or something, you could tell by the jaggedness of them. The thing who did this was strong to.

She took out the scales again, running her thumb over them. They were smooth and air foiled, and a pure black. Curious, Astrid walked around the trees and trampled bushes.

"Ah ha!" Astrid beamed, ripping a piece of black cloth snagged on a gnarled old bush. It still didn't help much. The fabric looked really old and worn out anyways. Sighing, Astrid tucked it into her belt beside the scales.

-o—

"Ow…" Hiccup moaned, as the back of his hood got caught in a tree, and he just stayed there, hanging. Toothless chuckled in his dragon way, looking up at Hiccup. The boys wings were tangled in the tree branches, also not helping with him getting down as he squirmed around.

"_Ok, stay still." _Toothless laughed.

"Wait…why do I have to stay-ah!" Hiccup yelped as a plasma blast knocked him from the tree, and he tumbled down. "Ouch. Again." Hiccup grumbled, as he got up.

"_Ha ha, oh sorry" _Toothless said between laughter. Hiccup rolled his eyes. He got up and dusted off his pants. He opened his wings again, looking at the sky.

"Ok, I'll try again." Hiccup said determinedly. Toothless watched as the dragon boy got a large running start, before jumping into the air. He got above the canopy, enjoying the rushing air on his cheeks. Toothless took off to, gliding beside Hiccup.

"_Good job! Now try a right turn."_ Toothless instructed. Hiccup nodded and tried to tilt his body to the right.

But he made it to rushed, and made a huge swerve sideways, flipping. With a small scream he crashed into the trees again. This time no branches were able to hold him up, so poor Hiccup crashed down and thumped on the ground.

Toothless came down smoothly, landing perfectly beside Hiccup. Done with flying, Hiccup folded his scratched wings into his back.

The Night Fury sniffed his friend, but Hiccup rolled over. _"What's wrong?" _Toothless asked.

"My _everything _hurts." Hiccup muttered, his sore limbs like dead weights. Toothless started laughing again, but pulled himself together.

"_Well you can't just lay there, you cripple." _Toothless joked, nudging his friend. Hiccup rolled over again. Toothless looked down at Hiccup, and nudged him again.

"Stop. Even that hurts." Hiccup complained. The Night Fury then picked up Hiccup by the collar of his hood, lifting him onto his back. "No. Don't you dare!" Hiccup yelped, suddenly more aware. Toothless grinned a gummy smile before shooting into the air.

"Ahhhh!" Hiccup screamed, clutching onto Toothless desperately. "Go down! Go down! Not-aw not up you useless reptile!" Hiccup shouted over the whistling wind. Toothless started plunging into the ocean, then coming up, thoroughly enjoying himself as he did barrel rolls, and a loop-de-loop for good measure.

Meanwhile, Hiccup was sputtering out the cold water and starting to feel very sick. His face turning a light green, he struggled to keep lunch down.

Finally Toothless swooped down gracefully, and landed on the ledge outside of Hiccups cave. Hiccup stumbled off of the crazy dragon, cold and slightly sick. Stormfly came out of the cave, looking at Hiccup who was now throwing up his insides, to Toothless.

"_What happened to him?" _She asked. Toothless gave another gummed grin.

"_I took him for this awesome ride." _The Night Fury boasted. Stormfly just looked at him funny. _"What?" _

The Spine Scale herded Hiccup inside with her wing, motherly instincts taking over. She sat down, pulling Hiccup close to her warm body.

Toothless growled a little bit before prying Hiccup from Stormfly, and setting the boy down beside him. Hiccup was _his _friend anyways. The Night Fury wrapped his wings around Hiccup, keeping the shivering teen as warm as he could. _"Sorry" _Toothless said.

"Its ok." Hiccup answered, muffled by the large black wings covering him. A pang in his stomach suddenly warned him. "Toothless! Let me out!"

**Yes! You get another update!**

**Hehe, poor Hiccup. Barfing his insides out everywhere…. XD**

**Ok, just a warning, the climax will start building next chapter. Yay! Yup, it may be up soon though. Right now where I live its April and yet its snow storming outside, so I can't really do anything besides draw or write :I **

**See you later!**


	8. Pacing Pacing, Both are Pacing

**Sorry for the strange chapter title :P **

"Hey Astrid, want to check out the Gronckle head I have? I caught it myself the other day" Snotlout said, leaning against the great hall doors. "And then maybe you could stay around for a bit after…" That comment got him shoved aside roughly, his helmet flying off and clanking on the ground. "Ok! Maybe next week then?"

Astrid kept walking, rolling her eyes. Snotlout _really _had to stop hitting on her. One day she may snap on him… and it won't be pretty. Plus she was too focused on the mystery she got herself mixed into to. Where did those scratches and scales come from?

She was heading to the forest, again, claiming that she was going to practice ax throwing. Astrid knew she should've just dismissed the marks, but she was too stubborn to just simply forget them.

-o—

Hiccup looked over at Stormfly suspiciously. She was now limping more noticeably, and something sticky looked dribbling from under the strips of deer hide. He gestured her over, and she walked towards him, hesitant.

Stormfly whimpered as Hiccup removed the splint, unwrapping the deer hide. Frowning, he looked at the gooey red stuff forming under her scales. "Crap. Its infected" He stated, poking the infection with a small twig. Stormfly then growled in pain. "Sorry there girl."

Hiccup winced as pus started oozing out. Oh gods that was disgusting.

Toothless sat behind Hiccup, looking at the infected wound. He crooned at Stormfly, despite his jealousy for her. The poor Spine Scale was in pain. Hiccup leaned back on his knees, thinking. He had only dealed with infection once. It was a Flame Skin, but Hiccup had caught it earlier and was able to easily heal it with forest herbs.

But this was different. There was more, and it was red instead of its usual green. And it also hurt her. Hiccups mind then reminded him where else he could get the medication for it…

…the village. But that would be dangerous. And he had to be quick about it, as well as deal with those thick headed Vikings.

"_Hiccup…what are you going to do?" _Toothless asked, sadness in his tone. Hiccup stood up straighter.

"I need to work on my flying." Hiccup said firmly.

"_Why?" _

"So I can get to that village faster, of course." Hiccup lisped, walking towards the mouth of the cave.

"_Whoa whoa whoa, slow down! You can't just waltz into there! Hiccup, if they find out what you are…they'll kill you!" _Toothless rambled, hopping in front of Hiccup. He tried to nudge him backwards, but Hiccup pushed past Toothless.

"Its ok Toothless. I won't have to worry about that. Because they _won't _know what I am."

-o—

Astrid threw her ax, watching as it splintered wood and dug deep into bark. In frustration, she pulled out the ax and flung it again blindly, and yet it still hit the middle of the tree. "One clue! Please!" she yelled, before flinging it again, this time the ax landed in a small river. "Great" she said, then cursed. The handle of her ax was cold, wet and slippery.

So she stuck it in a tree, and kept walking. Twirling the scales in her hand, Astrid took some time to cool down. "Alright" she breathed, looking up at the blue sky. She frowned as she looked over to see grey clouds gathering near the mountains.

Snow. That means winter is coming. Great.

Kicking a pebble, Astrid paced around. _She _wanted to find the creature so _she _could slay it. Or capture it, but she didn't have any bolas.

Astrid could already feel the cool breezes setting in, bringing it the snow clouds lazily. Rubbing her goose bumped arms, she stopped her continuous pacing.

-o—

Hiccup took off, gently flapping his wings until he was fairly high. So far so good. As soon as he attempted to fly, his natural instincts took over, and allowed him to steer elegantly and glide very far distances. He was getting good.

Toothless was back at the cave with Stormfly, helping her nurse the wound. Hiccup couldn't believe it got infected. How? He had cleaned it, sealed it, and splinted it well. Sighing, Hiccup glided down towards a small cove, coming in for a rocky landing. He stumbled, before tripping over clumsy feet and landing flat on his face on hard, frost laced ground. Rubbing his sore chin, Hiccup got up, dusting off his tattered black cloak.

He walked to a small cave hidden under thick roots of a large tree, picking up some wet moss and herbs before shoving them in his pocket.

Rubbing his temples from stress, Hiccup found himself pacing in the cave. Oh, what had he just committed to? Going to that village? Is he really serious? Toothless was right. If they found out who he was…only the great white blazing stars would know what they would do to him. Probably call him a monster- Hiccups heart tightened at that word –and most defiantly kill him. He was a freak. Probably a mistake of nature, a screw up, a loose end.

But Stormfly…

She would die if he didn't do anything. Slowly…drudgingly…painfully…. He felt his scales lifting to his skin as he thought of the fate of his dragon friend. A sudden anger spiked in him, and he kicked a large rock. It split in two.

Taking deep breaths, Hiccup calmed down. No use in getting angry at himself.

Then he plopped down on the ground, hugging his knees close to himself. Why did he have to have such a messed up life? Why did he get tangled in this mess?

_Because you care, _he answered himself. Yes, he did care. He did care for the wellbeing of his scaly friends. Any dragon really, besides the wicked Queen. No, not her. She deserves to die for her greed, her lust for blood and worse, occasionally dragon blood.

Standing again, Hiccup walked out of the cave into the cove. A rush of confidence now confined deep within, he shot into the air, flying back to his friends.

Because he cared.

-o-

_**Crack.**_

The girl jumped as a loud crunch filled the woods. Light on her feet, she crept over to the source of the sound. This way or that way? Confused, she now aimlessly snuck around. It wasn't until a few seconds later when a large whoosh of wind and a fast black streak made her jump back. Sliding down a slope into a pretty cove, she desperately searched the grey sky.

Nothing! It was gone!

But something caught her attention. A large boulder was in two pieces, specks of it crumbled around it. Whoa.

**Whoa is right Astrid. You almost saw the Half Fury. Hehe.**

**Sorry if it's a bit shorter than usual, I didn't want to drawl out this chapter. My apologies. Hope ya'll liked it! I enjoyed writing this, with a stressed Hiccup and a frustrated Astrid. And a infected Stormfly… :(**

**And now Hiccup can fly! Kind of. More like glide.**

**And OMG my brain gears have been turning. I have SO many ideas for this, as well as awesome battle scenes. Hate to get ahead of myself, but I also have amazing plans for a sequel…**

**Sorry. I just love this idea of half dragon Hiccup. There are so many possibilities! To bad for you guys, you have to wait to find out all my plans. Lol. **

**Ok, I'm done talking. Oh wait! No I'm not! Thanks for the reviews and favs, and follows!**

**Now I'm done. Have a nice day/night/afternoon! .D.**


	9. Crash Landing

"_No!" _Toothless growled sternly, blocking Hiccups way.

"Toothless, you don't understand. Stormfly is going to die if I don't do this. And I need you to stay behind to look after her!" Hiccup said, backing up to kindly scratch under the Scale Shot's neck. Stormfly crooned and nudged Hiccup.

"_You can't just make such rash decisions!" _Toothless argued, plopping down on his haunches. Hiccup sighed and looked at the Night Fury for a while.

"I know its stupid. But I could never forgive myself if some dragon died because I wasn't brave enough to get the cure. I'm sorry Toothless, but I'm going." Tightening a leather belt he put on, Hiccup walked past Toothless, patting him on the back. "I'll be back soon. Watch over Stormfly please!"

And with that, Hiccup spread his wings and ran off the ledge of the mountain, gliding through chilly air. Toothless watched worriedly, and didn't turn around before Hiccup was a mere speck in the sky.

"_He'll be ok, won't he?" _Stormfly squawked. Toothless seemed to frown.

"_We can only hope. Good thing he's smart" _The Night Fury huffed.

-o—

"Good job Astrid." Gobber exclaimed as Astrid was able to flip over an angry Zippleback head. Today they were practicing stealth and smarts. Something very few of them had.

Astrid nodded, grabbing a bucket off the ground and running at the head that was starting to spark the green smoke. "YAAHHHHH!" She cried, as she doused the sparking head in water, and clocked it upside the face afterwards. The one head screeched and tried to flick her aside, the other head snapping at her.

She kicked the snapping one, then wacked it as well with the bucket before disappearing into the smoke. She heard Snotlout charging as well, but Astrid simply came from behind the dragon as it was busy with Snotlout. The Twins came out to, yelling and shoving each other to get to the confused dragon first.

Gobber watched with satisfaction as, for once, the teens were able to scare the dragon and push it into its cage. They were all doing fairly well for beginners.

"Good job, all of ye'" Gobber yelled, coming towards them. All the teens straightened their backs and looked just as approved as Gobber was. "Your skills ye' showed today will come in handy tomorrow! We're doin' teamwork!" He praised as he opened the heavy metal gates. "Rest up!"

All the teens exited, in their usual group. Astrid hung back around Fishlegs, even though half the time he was blabbering about all these different dragons, she still preferred him over Snotlout. He was also the most trustful individual of the group for Astrid.

She was very tempted. Tempted to spill the secrets she had been keeping from everyone…

Astrid was an outgoing individual. Unafraid to speak her mind. But when she knew she couldn't…that was something she struggled with. Especially when it was as mysterious as the mystery she was figuring out, and she needed help.

Maybe she could talk to Fishlegs after dinner.

-o—

Hiccup shivered as he glided on the cold breeze, it was much colder since he was so high. Frost was even starting to form small crystals in his hair.

Tucking his cloak shakily to himself, Hiccup looked down. Almost there. Oh, good thing. He was freezing. Jaw clenched to stop from shaking, Hiccup tried to even out his wings for a nice, gentle dive.

It was good for a few seconds. He actually thought he was getting pretty good at this flying stuff. Until of course, he had to maneuver through the trees of course…

He went into a landing position to late. Yelping, Hiccup tucked himself in a ball, fearing for the worst. He crashed through the canopy, the branches scratching his arms and face all the way down. The worst of it all happened when he was suddenly flipped upside down, his boot getting stabbed through with a sharp pointed, thick branch.

He hung there, catching his breath. This would hurt in the morning.

Hiccup started panicking though, as the branch slowly bent. Arms over his head for protection, he let the branch snap. So he came crashing painfully down on the frozen ground.

"Great blazing stars…" Hiccup muttered, deciding to lay still for a minute. You could say he was in a bit of pain at the moment.

Hiccup looked down at himself, seeing scrapes and bruises. Ok, nothing he couldn't recover from. Even though his wings hurt a lot, he was able to successfully fold them into his back. Grunting, he sat up. Even that hurt.

He attempted to stand, but was caught by a very sharp pain from his ankle. Cursing, he fell over, _again. _He examined his injury.

"Oh, how simply _wonderful_" He grumbled. Great, now his ankle was about useless. Looking around the forest, his clever head thinking, he finally spotted a thick, long stick. Picking it up, Hiccup put most of his weight on it, using it as one would use a cane.

So he hobbled through the forest, alert. He was dead meat if anyone found him. But luckily for him, from his past experiences, he healed very quickly. So quickly in fact, he would probably be rid of this weakness tomorrow.

"Stupid tree" Hiccup growled, hitting a branch out of the way. He didn't see it snap back and…

"_Ouch!_"

-o—

Astrid quickly finished her meal, setting her plate on the pile. She looked over at Fishlegs, who was already done his food and reading. She came up beside him, sitting down across from the wide boy.

"Hey Fishlegs" She said calmly. The said boy looked up from his book, smiling a bit.

"Hello"

Astrid leaned a bit over the table, taking out two small black scales. She offered Fishlegs one.

"Wow! Where'd you get these? Perfectly air foiled…light weight…perfect for sneaking and silent flying…oh and small too!" He started listing, running his fingers over the smoothness of the almond shaped scale. Astrid nodded.

"Shhh! Don't tell anyone ok? I found in the woods, near a ruined bola. Maybe this- whatever this creature is- is the thing freeing all the dragons!" She exclaimed excitedly.

"Why can't we tell anyone?" Fishlegs asked. Astrid stood up proudly, holding up the scale so she looked at it at eye level, then looked over at Fishlegs.

"Duh, so we can catch it ourselves!" Astrid beamed.

"Well, um, what if? You know…its more dangerous than we thought…ha ha…and it can kill us and everything?" Fishlegs rambled nervously.

"Its just more of a challenge then" Astrid said, as if it was completely obvious. She then started to lead Fishlegs out of the hall. "C'mon, lets get started!"

This was going to be much more easier, or so she thought, with help. And Fishlegs was smart and intellectual to, so this should be a piece of cake. She hoped, at least.

**Sorry if it was a bit short.**

**And wow, thanks for the 40 reviews so far. I'm glad you guys are liking the story! I'm extremely excited for this…I might of stated this already…SO MANY IDEAS. Also…I hope this isn't going too fast. Alert me please if you think I'm rushing it! I really want to avoid that. I would like this story to be at least 20+ chapters, so yah.**

**Oh yes, and when Hiccup says 'Great blazing stars' or something like that, it's like his own version of 'Oh Thor' or stuff like that. :)**

**Nothing much other to say. Other than suddenly I'm into Rise Of The Guardians. *face palm* I don't know…I watched the movie with my cousins…and…ugh. DreamWorks, your killing me with all these fantastic movies! **

**See yah next update! :D**


	10. No Regrets

**Hello Friends. I don't own HTTYD. You know, what I usually say. Yah, just repeat all that good stuff in your head because I'm to lazy to type it. :3**

Hiccup stretched, blinking so his eyes could adjust to the sunlight. He was sleeping under a large bush, he could easily hide under.

He noticed the thin layer of snow on the forest floor, and beautiful patterns of frost lacing the trees bark. Looking down at himself, he noticed him himself was covered in some snow, and he finally began to feel the cold of the crisp morning seep into his bones. Shivering slightly, Hiccup let his black scales rise to his skin to keep the cold out, like a built in fur coat.

Getting up, he shook off some snow, then started to walk through the forest. He was planning to loop around the village first, until he was closer to that small house that held the healer. Then at night, he would simply get a concoction, then fly away. Easy enough right?

Testing his ankle, he found it only hurt a little when he walked. Stretching still stiff muscles, Hiccup looked up at the snow covered trees.

Brushing off thoughts of possibly turning back, Hiccup went to continue his plan.

-o—

"So Astrid, how are we planning on catching something we have never seen before?" Fishlegs questioned. Astrid thought for a second, leaning back from the Book of Dragons. So far they have found nothing that could possibly relate to the creature they were hunting, dragon nor legend.

"Hey, maybe we could set a bunch of traps up, with different types of bait." She offered. Fishlegs shrugged, then nodded.

The two had spent half the night discussing and planning, and all this morning. At first they skimmed the Book of Dragons, but after not finding much, they decided to maybe look to their tribes folklore. So far, however, they haven't really been able to scrap up much. Even though Astrid wanted to dive right into action, Fishlegs suggested they get some background information.

"Oh! Hey! Look here!" Fishlegs said quickly, picking up a parchment of paper.

"What is it?"

"Well, its not much, but read here. It said that a yak herder swore he saw a black figure in the forest." He read off the paper.

"And then it says he was labeled insane and shipped off…" Astrid read the rest, unsatisfied. Fishlegs sighed. "Are we done gathering information yet? I'm tired of sitting down for so long" Astrid finished, standing up.

"Yah yah yah, I guess so" Fishlegs said dully, gathering the papers and books. Excited, Astrid ran over and threw on a coat and grabbed her ax.

"Lets go out into the forest now, I want to show you those claw marks!" Astrid chimed, swinging open the Great Hall doors.

"Ok." Fishlegs followed, the slightest bit unenthusiastic. He didn't really like the idea of wandering a cold, deep forest with an angry creature tromping around it. Gulping, he rushed after Astrid as she disappeared into the woods.

Snow was softly sifting down, gathering in clumps on tree branches. To engrossed in the tree to notice, Fishlegs ran his fingers along a long jagged scratch along the tree. Half terrified and fascinated, he took small notes repeatedly in a small book he brought. Astrid was wandering around nearby, waiting awkwardly for Fishlegs to finish.

"Wow…Astrid these are amazing. Really deep and easily sliced from the looks of it to" Fishlegs noted.

"I know that, but did you find anything else about it?"

"Uh…well no. Sorry Astrid, theres nothing for me to work with besides a scale and scratchmarks."

"So now can we start making traps…?"

Fishlegs wanted to roll his eyes, but Astrid had an ax in her hand. So nope. "Fine" he sighed.

"Yes! C'mon, lets go ask Gobber for some!" Astrid piped up, starting to jog back. Fishlegs yelled at her to slow down, but just shook his head and ran after her, trying his best to avoid the slippery patches of ice dotting the landscape. He almost slipped once, but thank Thor caught himself. Sadly, he missed the small footprint already being covered by snow that had just made it out of his line of sight….

-o—

Hiccup shivered as he stiffly walked through the forest, still cold even with his scales. Blowing out a breath, only to see it, he huffed and kept walking. Why this day? Of all days? Why did the snow have to fall right now? Pulling his cloak closer, he really wished he brought that nice, warm, cozy deer pelt along…

Nope. Don't even. No regrets.

But that was hard, especially when you are shivering so much you can't see straight, and you can't feel any of your fingers.

Maybe this was a stupid idea. Maybe.

Impatiently Hiccup sped up, trying to get to his destination a bit quicker than he guessed. Two days was to much, for both him and Stormfly. Stormfly…he wondered how she was doing. Was Toothless taking care of her? Was she in pain? Most of all…was she still alive?

What if he came back to find her…maybe…dead…?

Nope. Shut up.

_Ok, now I'm talking to myself._ Hiccup thought dryly, as he ruffled his hair to get snow out of his hair. Rubbing his hands together, he started to run a little. To get his blood pumping. He really wanted to just fly there…but those Vikings and their bolas are dangerous. If he was spotted, which he would easily would be, they most likely would shoot. And the fall would probably hurt.

Clenching his jaw to keep it from clacking, Hiccup climbed over a ledge and slid down the sharp incline. Sharp rocks jutted into his boots, but his feet where to numb to feel pain. Damn Berk and its low temperatures.

Brushing a thick pine tree limb out of the way, Hiccup looked into the distance to see small pillars of smoke sifting into the sky from the village. They're probably by their nice, warm fires in their nice, warm homes, nice and cozy with their families and bloody weapons…

Hiccup thought his brain was starting to numb. Geez, his mind went to so many different subjects at once. It was confusing.

Thankfully, at the pace he was currently going, he wouldn't have to stand this cold for too long. He would probably arrive in a day instead of two. Thank the bright white glaring moon.

-o—

"Four traps? For what?" Gobber asked, as he pounded a broad sword back into shape over hot, sizzling coals.

"We want to practice setting them" Astrid quickly inserted, before Fishlegs could jut in with one of his pathetic excuses. No offence to him.

"Well, I guess if its for educational uses…here ya' go" Gobber turned away from the sword, and gathered up the metal spring traps in his beefy arms and handed them to the two.

"Thanks Gobber!" Fishlegs said, as Astrid quickly led out them. Hiding away in an unused shed, Astrid set her two traps down on the hay covered floor.

"Ok, now we only have to get the bait"

-o—

"Hey Ruffnut, did you see Astrid and Fishlegs disappear into that empty shed?" Tuffnut sneered.

"Yah," She snickered. "Alone"

They both laughed, but then kept up. "What do you think they're doing?" Tuffnut asked.

"I don't know…but they did look secretive about it" Ruffnut said slyly. Tuffnut guffawed, then grinned again.

"Hey, did you see them disappear into the forest yesterday?" He carried on.

"Yup."

"Fishlegs looked like he was blushing to, I wonder why?"

At that comment, they both started laughing and making snide comments and burst out chuckling loudly. Several Vikings passing raised an eyebrow, but brushed it off as their regular behavior.

**Lol, sorry, just had to add that last part…and that 'bright white glaring moon' nonsense was just Hiccups way of saying 'Oh Odin' or 'Thor help me' and that kind of stuff.**

**Short again? Sorry about that. My apologies, but better something than nothing right?**

**Sorry about that little wait…technical difficulties. Laptop froze, so I had to use our stone age home computer…and OH MY GOD. SO MUCH LAG. It wasn't a nice experience, and was worse when I figured out I simply had to power off my laptop to unfreeze it, after two long days of waiting. :I**

**And hey, I get back on FanFiction and WHOA, 53 reviews?! Awesome! Thanks guys, I loved reading all your feedback! **

**You guys are the best. Seriously. This just got all cheesy. I'm spewing out gushy stuff. Time to shut up. Shutting up now.**

**Lol, have a nice day/night! :D**


	11. Warm Snuggly Warmth

"I got a fish and some chicken" Astrid said, carrying the 'borrowed' items in a cloth bag. Fishlegs met up with her at the old shed. He was seen with an extra shoulder pad made of metal, and a small pile of furs.. Astrid looked at him quizzically.

"Some dragons have been known to be attracted to shiny or metal objects and such" Fishlegs stated with a shrug. Astrid rolled her bright blue eyes as they both walked into the shed to pick up the four traps. Half dragging them, the two rushed back into the forest.

The cold, as always, was nipping and lingering as Astrid ran through the forest with her thick fur coat. The cold metal traps didn't do much to preserve heat. She parted with a hesitant Fishlegs, now slowing down to a walk.

The now forgotten snapped bola was buried under a thin layer of glittering snow, only one shredded end of rope poking out. Ignoring that, with a loud clank, Astrid dropped one trap and set it, putting the slimy fish in. It clicked into a ready position to snap shut on its victim. Satisfied and checking it one more time, she got up and dragged the trap to her next destination.

-o—

Fishlegs grinned as he set his second trap, a bit closer to the village than Astrid had been setting hers. Even though it was a scary thought, to think about such a beast living so close, he knew it was a possibility.

Being careful to step over it, Fishlegs put back on his leather-like gloves and went out to look for his partner.

-o—

In a word, Hiccup was sturdy. Fast healing, fast runner, can take a fall, that kind of thing. But, sadly, whoever created him thought that maybe cold resistance wasn't an important feature. Or at least that's what he was thinking as he treaded through the forest. Sure, he was close to his destination, but oh seven seas he was cold.

Stumbling up a small hill and looking above the treetops, he almost sighed in relief as he saw the healers home towering above the other homes hanging off its cliff. Excited now, he decided to start running, despite his numbed toes. The small sting he had from his injured ankle wasn't noticed either.

A flash of metal crossed his vision, and being the curious boy he is, he stopped and looked over.

A small trap, he recognized, laid in the snow, gleaming in the afternoon sun. He found himself fingering his small metal pick, as he usually did.

This trap didn't have meat or fish in it though. It had fur. Nice, warm, snuggly fur…

"Now why would they do this?" Hiccup thought aloud, stepping closer and glancing around. The furs were so plush looking…so fluffy…and _warm. _Oh, warmth. He really needed that right now.

Hesitantly, sadly, Hiccup gave into temptation. So he crouched down by the trap, taking out his pick and working on the gears that were set to snap shut with his shaky almost frost bitten fingers.

It was rocky, he was unsteady and he was worried he would set off the trap.

-o—

"I highly doubt your fur trap will catch anything." Astrid said bluntly, as she walked beside Fishlegs. "I mean, what would a dragon want with fur?" 

"Well, the Dragon Book states that some dragons have a tendency to maybe collect certain items, and dragons of that nature usually are mysterious and not well known of, so I figured-"

"Yes, ok. I don't need a lesson" Astrid cut in. Fishlegs felt the strong urge to roll his eyes. But Astrid had an ax…so no.

They stepped over a thick log, pushing through the bushes and coming near the location of Fishleg's trap. All because Astrid wanted to be 100% sure it wasn't set wrong. Much to Fishlegs disappointment, she didn't exactly trust him to perform these things correctly. But then, Astrid is a do-it-yourself kind of person, so Fishlegs decided not to take it too personally.

-o—

"Almost…just one more tweak…" Hiccup mumbled, almost excited. Finally the inner workings of the trap untensed and the jaws of it fell weakly apart. Gathering the fur in his arms, Hiccup wrapped around himself and lavished in the sudden sense of security and building warmth.

Letting his scales sink away, Hiccup relaxed a little and tucked his warm fingers in the fur.

But a wave of guilt rushed over him. Stormfly is in pain…and he's wasting time on traps to get some fur…

No, it was ok, wasn't it? Because he couldn't save her when he was frozen to death right?

He was going to continue guilting himself, but he snapped from his thoughts harshly as a horrifying Viking cry erupted from his left.

Bursting from the bushes, a blond female Viking was charging at him with fury in her ice blue eyes and an ax raised high above her head…

-o—

"Fishlegs! Get down!" Astrid suddenly whisper hissed, shoving the beefy boy to the ground.

"Ouch! Astrid! Not cool!" Fishlegs snapped back. They were meters from his fur trap, and he finally froze as he heard snow crunching underfoot from in front of them.

Terrified, Fishlegs cowered behind a bush and looked at Astrid. She was anything but scared. A stone cold mask of determination cast over her features, as she gripped her ax and prepared to charge the enemy, as her mother always told her to.

He wanted to tell her to hold back, but as soon as she heard another small crunch she suddenly broke through the bushes, hollering like any brave Hooligan warrior.

-o—

Acting only on pure instinct (whether it was human or dragon…it was confusing…), Hiccup darted aside. No, he didn't attack, because he had never been attacked by a Viking and he didn't know what they would do, their reaction. He was about to book it into the forest, but stopped when he saw the Viking female stop her charging and yelling and look at him confused.

She lowered her ax and simply stared. Hiccup backed up, his eyes wide.

-o—

Fishlegs then burst through the bushes to, eyes shut and a twig tightly held. Astrid turned to look at him, and when she looked back at where the boy was, he only saw the flash of his auburn hair against the cold colored forest.

"Hey wait!" She yelled, dropping the ax and following him in a hot pursuit. Fishlegs, very extremely confused ran after his friend.

Astrid quickly caught up with the boy, as he tripped over his own feet and plopped face first into a drift of snow.

Fishlegs stopped, out of breath, a few feet behind Astrid. "What are you-?" He stopped as he saw the boy scrambled to his feet.

"Who is-"

"Shhh" Astrid shushed, nearing the stranger like she was nearing a wild animal. "Who are you?" she said boldly.

The boy gulped and turned to run, but Astrid reached forward and gripped his wrist. It was scarily cold, almost like she was holding a slab of ice.

"Are you ok?" She persisted with her questions. The boy looked as frozen as he felt, breathes short and he was tense.

Fishlegs came up beside Astrid.

-o—

Hiccup needed to do something, anything. But he was, really, in shock. He had never been _this _close to a Viking. And he noticed not all of them were hairy, well at least these two. The female was frightening though, and her grip was impossible to get out of. She was very much like him. She had a nose, two ears, and all five fingers on each hand.

She spoke like him to, he understood her. But he didn't dare to open his mouth. Even though it was stupid, he simply stood there and stared. Maybe, if she just let go…

Well, first he would have to avoid tripping again. That would be hard. Or he could climb a tree or something.

"Are you ok?" The female said slowly, looking him right in the eye. He stiffened more as the male came closer as well.

No, he was not ok. Terrified. Cold. All of the above. But he didn't say anything.

Stupid, stupid…stupid…why did he have to trip right then…

-o—

The strange boy was defiantly scared. Fishlegs could easily tell, but he was also quite cold as well. He could tell by the boys slightly blue fingertips and lips, and his pale skin an unhealthy color. No wonder he stole that fur.

Being the empathic boy he was, Fishlegs stepped forward a little and looked at the boy. "Do you need help?" he asked. The boy looked over at him. Nothing. Unresponsive.

Astrid, fed up by the strangers strange behavior, started to walk in the direction of the village, dragging a stumbling boy behind her.

He reacted though, pulling and yanking his hand. Surprised by the sudden show of strength, Astrid let go of him. The boy looked at both of them again, before quickly darting away with surprising speed.

"Astrid?" Fishlegs called as she started running to. "What are you doing?"

"C'mon, let's follow him" she said wondrously.

"You mean stalk him?" he countered.

"_No, _I mean help him. You saw him right? He looked like he was about to freeze to death! Come on!" she yelled before running after the strange kid.

_Why did I agree to help her again? _He thought before jogging along.

**That poor boy. Now Hiccups being stalked for a **_**second **_** time. **

**Hello again. Sorry for that little wait, my mom thought I needed a break from my computer, and forcibly locked it away. That was the worst day of my life. Just kidding! But seriously…**

**I hope you liked it! Please review, feedback is awesome. You guys are awesome. Everything is awesome. **

**Ok, sorry, I'm bored. Have a nice day/night my friends! :) **


	12. Thats The One

**Updates may be longer apart now…but still random. :)**

Hiccup winced as the gnarled, bare branches slapped and hit him as he ran, not sure how he would get away. That Viking was always three steps behind him. Daring to look back, he saw she was closer than comfortable. She noticed him looking at her, and she yelled "Stop!"

Was she crazy? Why would he stop? So she can strangle him to death? No thanks.

He really wanted to spread his wings and fly away, defend himself from the crazy Vikings with his claws, but he would be discovered. They may hunt him!

So instead he kept running, even though his throat was dry and his muscles ached badly. Although, his dragon instincts knew flying would be the main escape from this situation.

Taking a sharp corner, Hiccup jumped over a boulder and ran across a frozen stream. The village was closer now. To close though. Peering over his shoulder, he only saw the female Viking so close, she just had to reach out. Sadly, as Hiccup jumped a snow pile, his cloak billowed out and the girl snatched it which sent him to his butt.

She stopped him from getting up, and looked down at him. She was out of breath, cheeks red, but didn't show it. "Please stop running, we-"She looked around, probably for the other Viking. "-I want to help you. For Thor's sake, look at yourself!" The Viking snapped. Hiccup recoiled at her stern tone. But he did look at himself. Sure he didn't look to good, but why would she care?

Weren't they the dragon slaughtering berserk maniacs that showed mercy? The things that killed his scaly friends, and he had grown to dislike very much?

Why would she care about his wellbeing?

"Come with me, to my village." Hiccup looked up when she said 'village'. Hey, wasn't the healers hut there? He would have easy access to the healers home if he entered through the village instead of the outside…

There may be a change in plans.

Hiccup got up, until he was eye level with the Viking. Even though he was the slightest bit taller, she was intimidating enough it didn't matter whether she was glaring down at you, or up with those icy blue eyes of hers.

"If you're going to run off again-"

"No." Hiccup cut her off. He cleared his dry throat. "I can get help from your village?" He asked with his slightly hoarse voice.

"Oh, thank the gods you speak Norse! And yes, our healer can help you with your frostbite." She gestured to his blue fingers. "Let's go now!" She chimed. "By the way, I'm Astrid."

_Astrid? Well at least it's better than Hiccup. _Hiccup thought. He then followed 'Astrid' through the bushes. The walk was silent, neither of them talking besides Astrid, who only called out for this weird 'Fishlegs' thing. Hiccup was shocked when they came in the village, to find three buildings almost ashed to the ground, and huge claw marks in the beams of wood.

Obviously a dragon did this. But…weren't the dragons the good guys? He had little doubts as he saw a man with a stump for an arm, a women with one eye, and a man with a leg and arm taken off and replaced by wooden prosthetics.

The Vikings eyed him strangely as they pasted, but continued on their work. Astrid turned to make sure he was caught up, as they exited the main part of the village and dispersed into the outskirts of the village. And up the hill,

The healer's home.

And to think, he was expecting for him to have to break in. But no, there it was. On its deck of the wooden structure, an old women stood, looking over the ocean. She had a staff that was bigger than her, decorated with small animal bones and beads.

"Gothi" Astrid addressed. The old women turned, and now Hiccup could see her wrinkled, bony face and pale, wise old blue eyes. "This boy needs help, just a little." Gothi nodded, then lead the teens into her small rickety home.

Hiccup ducked under drying plants hanging from the roof, trying to catch up with the surprisingly fast old women as she went to a table crowded with different liquids, charms, and some dragon bones. Hiccup cringed slightly as he saw a gronckle skull mounted on the wall, the jaw hanging open, its hollow eyes seeming to bore down into Hiccups own. Brushing off the scary feeling, Hiccup noticed one particular plant hanging from the roof, directly over the elders head.

_That's the one I need…_

It was so easy. He could just simply reach out, grab it, and run. Well, at least when the old women was there. Not with Astrid standing right behind him, he would never make it out the door. Or would he….

"Hello?" Astrid interrupted his thinking. Hiccup snapped out of his head.

"Oh-what?" Hiccup sputtered out.

"I was telling you I'm going, stay with Gothi" She said, opening the door. Hiccup watched as she walked out, taking a deep breath.

-0-

Astrid stood by the door for a second, then walked down the stairs. She was curious of this weird kid, and what he was doing in the forest when it was so cold. Where did he even come from? She had never seen him around, ever, before.

"Astrid!" she turned, seeing Fishlegs running towards her. He caught up, catching his breath.

"What?"

"First, why did you ditch me? Second, can I see the cloth you found? And third, can we please sit down, I'm dying over here" He listed. Astrid nodded and sat down on a plank of wood, pulling out the piece of cloth tucked with her scale.

"Why do you need this?" Astrid asked, as she handed it to the breathless teen beside her. He looked through his coat, pulling out a longer strip of fabric. Then, with a ridiculous smile, he compared them.

"Whoa…" he muttered. Astrid leaned in, seeing the identical pieces of cloth. "They match! They match!" Fishlegs triumphed.

"Where'd you find this?" Astrid questioned quickly.

"It ripped off that persons cloak when he went through the bush…" Fishlegs drawled.

Astrid found herself looking at the healers home.

It looks like this mystery just got a little more confusing.

**Uh oh. Hiccup, they're onto you…**

**Hi again! I hope you like the chapter. I decided to start some suspense :) the next few chapters should be pretty action packed. But, we are not near the end. Not even close. This story will most likely be 20-25 chapters long I hope!**

**Oh yah, and to answer some guest reviews:**

**The reason Hiccup was fascinated with how the Vikings were like him, was because I think that over the three years, he maybe thought the Vikings were like monsters, because they killed his dragon friends and he forgot about how they really looked because of all his bitter memories from them. **

**And yes, I know he should be more warm blooded since he's a dragon, but I guess I wanted him to suffer a bit...hehe...**

**Thanks for all the follows, favs, and reviews! You guys are awesome! :D**

**Have a nice day/night!**


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